LABOUR CARNAGE
Diane Abbott row explodes again as Scottish Labour leader says she SHOULD be allowed to stand & Keir weighs up U-turn
Anas Sarwar is the second senior Labour figure to challenge Keir Starmer over the veteran left-winger's status
LABOUR’S Diane Abbott row exploded again this morning after the party’s Scottish leader said she SHOULD be allowed to stand.
Anas Sarwar broke ranks with Keir Starmer to claim the veteran left-winger deserved the chance to represent Labour a day after Angela Rayner said the same.
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The Scottish Labour chief told BBC Breakfast that Ms Abbott, who had the whip restored after being suspended for antisemitism, was “a trailblazer” with “a strong history in the Labour Party”.
Asked if she should be allowed to run as a candidate, he admitted: “I agree with Angela.”
On Thursday, Labour’s deputy leader had said: “I don’t see any reason why Diane Abbott can’t stand as a Labour MP”.
The remarks are bound to leave Sir Keir red-faced as he campaigns with Mr Sarwar north of the border today.
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It comes after the dithering party chief was last night weighing up his biggest U-turn yet by allowing Abbott, 70, to return in Hackney North.
He has repeatedly insisted the decision would be made by Labour’s National Executive Committee, which is packed with the leader’s allies.
Sir Keir refused to be drawn on whether Ms Abbott will be barred, telling BBC Scotland: “No decision has been taken to bar her from standing and the NEC will come to a decision in due course”.
But Shadow Science secretary Peter Kyle said: “These are all issues about standards. Keir Starmer became leader of Labour.
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“He raised the standards to which Labour MPs are held.
“The NEC will be making decisions about who is best to represent the Labour party in today, in the 2020s, looking forward.
“That takes away nothing from Diane Abbott’s achievements in the past.”
Starmer has been accused by some on the left of the Labour Party of running a “purge” against Corbynite campaigners.
But Angela Rayner insisted there had been serious allegations made, necessitating a string of suspensions against would-be Labour MPs, including Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Faiza Shaheen.
She said: "I don't know the details of the individual cases but I do know that we put a robust system in place around vetting and dealing with serious allegations that are made in the party.
"We had to do that because when me and Keir took over the party was failing."
In an interview with ITV, Ms Rayner, said that was “not happy” about claims Ms Abbott had been barred from standing.
Probed on the confusion around Ms Abbott's selection squabble, Rayner told ITV: “I don’t see any reason why Diane Abbott can’t stand as a Labour MP going forward.
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"I am saying that as the deputy leader of the Labour Party.”
She added that she was “not happy” about negative briefings against Ms Abbott, adding: “I don’t think that is how we should conduct ourselves.”
And of reports that Ms Abbott had been blocked from standing for Sir Keir Starmer's party, she added: “I don’t think that is how we should conduct ourselves.”
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Rayner doubled down by hailing Abbott as an "inspiration to many people".
She went on: "People from her background and people who look like her have a place in our politics."
Ms Abbott was suspended last year for claiming Jewish people do not experience racism like black people, likening their plight to ginger-haired folk.
During a rally supporting her earlier this week, she said: "I was shocked to learn that I am going to be banned from running for the Labour Party.
"I have been selected by my local party members, many of whom are here today, but the national party is insisting that I be banned.
"You have always stood with me, in good times and bad, and I will always stand with you.
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"I am not going to allow myself to be intimated or frightened by forces beyond all of our control.
"I am going to be your MP as long as I am allowed to."
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